The Start of a Conversation
by M.Koffe
Summary: AU. Pre-Robin! Jason meets up with Dick one Sunday and develops a crush on him.


**Written as a request for someone on tumblr. :) Hope ya'll like it.**

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His plan was not to sneak into Haly's Circus, then again – he never thought he would come to admire one of the performers. Especially one that was always so freakishly happy that it made him want to punch something.

Jason had heard the rumors and seen the posters. He knew that the circus was preforming for the weekend and that they had set up their camp on the outskirts of Gotham. He was not a fan of the circus or any show, mostly because after it was over, after those few hours of entertainment was used up, nothing would be different.

He'd still be in his position, half alone and still searching the streets.

On Sunday he found some free time, and out of curiosity he made the journey to the camp. There was enough large pieces of trash and items on the outside, and he'd be able to hide easily. It was just curiosity, he wanted to see how other people lived like. People that lived almost in another universe.

The tall grass was dry, and pricked at his palms whenever he set them down. He was hiding behind a stack dirty old tires, peeking at the group. A cool breeze kept rolling in, taming the day's heat. He peered up, watching at how these other people lived.

They were all so strong and independent, making their own food and working at multiple chores at the same time. Feeding the huge animals and not fearing that ferocious beasts like the tigers would chomp down on them.

However, as interesting as it was for him to keep his eyes on the group – a figure in the distance caught his attention. His eye shifted toward what appeared to be a young boy, maybe only two years older than himself. That would make the other boy thirteen.

Silently, Jason left the shelter of old tires and stalked toward the figure. The grass was tall enough to cover him completely, if he stayed low and crouching. He stopped when he was at least three feet away from the preteen. The boy was wearing skin tight clothing that moved with his body and clinged tightly to his figure.

The boy moved with an elegance that Jason immediately began to admire. He watched as the performer gracefully did back flips, cartwheels and handstands. Either burning off energy or practicing for the show. That did not matter, because it was the way the boy moved with such fluidity that made the air in Jason's lungs freeze.

The boy launched himself into a back flip, but landed awkwardly and ended up falling right next to Jason. Jason's bluish gray eyes met with big bright sapphire ones.

For a few seconds the boy blushed from embarrassment, but that quickly faded as he slowly sat up, "Who are you?" he questioned, rubbing a spot on his back that would more than likely evolve into a bruise within the next few hours.

Jason never knew that as soon as he would develop a crush on someone said crush would literally flip back and land no more than three inches away from him. It was only natural for the ten year old boy to forget how to speak, "Um... I'm..." it was the way the performer stared at him with those eyes and that loud smile made his heart gallop because no one had ever looked at him with that kind of optimism before. It made him both nervous and irate at the same time.

Nervous because, _oh god that smile _and irate because he had never seen someone smile with that much happiness backing it up. He had seen fake smiles all the time, smiles that told him that everything was going to be okay even though there was nothing to be happy about. But this smile, this childish grin that whirled around playfully was genuine, raw. It made Jason feel sick.

"That's okay." the acrobat began to brush some of the grass in his hair. "I'll go first, I'm Dick. Now, you try."

"Um, I'm Jason." he managed to stammer out, pulling at his sleeves.

"Are you from the city?" Dick inquired, staring at Jason's to large brown jacket and his oil stained blue jeans.

Afraid that if he tried to speak again nothing but either nonsense or a string of curse words would vomit out, he simply nodded. As much as he hated the fact that this Dick person was so happy for no reason at all, he did not want to speak something rude and horrible and make that elated, bright smile go away. It was no a sight that often crossed Jason's field of vision, and he was not ready to loose sight of it yet.

Dick hopped up, dusting all the tiny splotches of dirt off his blue biker shorts. He then reached out and grabbed Jason by the hand to yank him up, "Well, you might be trespassing, but I'm not sure." Dick shrugged. "It's not often I find someone wondering in from the city, do you know how to do like flips and stuff?"

"No." Jason answered with one word, which was not as hard as forming a sentence.

"Come on, I'll show you!" even though there was other children at the circus he could play with, Dick wanted someone new to speak to and have fun with. Someone he could make new memories with, and memories that would only be shared between the two of them.

Not letting go of Jason's hand, Dick pulled him a little farther from the camp where he would not have to worry about anyone seeing his new friend. If Jason was caught trespassing, and Dick did not do anything about it, they both could get into a massive amount of trouble.

Jason was a quick learner, and in no time the pair was doing flips and handstands. Jason did not want to admit it, but could not remember the last time he had so much fun. He also found it interesting that, no matter how out of breath and tired Dick was his good mood never faltered. The more time he spent with the Dick, the more he could not help but admire him and his skill. Even though sometimes he just wanted to smack that smile off of Dick's face for being happy.

"We should be going back soon." Dick suggested after a few hours of play time. "I have to help prepare for the last show tonight. I'd really like it if you there."

"I'll be there."

It was not that hard for Jason to sneak into the circus. There was so many kids running around and distracting the guy who was taking in the tickets that it was no problem to just slyly waltz by. All he had to do was wait for a large group of children ascending into the entrance and join them. As soon as he stepped foot in the tent, he wanted to get as far away from the entrance as possible, just in case someone realizes that he did not have a ticket. He found a seat at a far corner, away from most of the annoying younger children.

Once the show started, he sat motionless, waiting for Dick to take the stage. He did not care for the other acts, his mind was to encompassed with the thought of seeing that young boy move again.

Dick came on stage with his parents near the end, they were the closing act. Jason could not take his eyes off any of them. They way they moved, with such command and control. Elegantly leaping and having so much trust in each other. It was beautiful to see Dick let go of his bar and have so much faith in his mother – knowing that she would catch him.

At the end of the show, Jason wanted so much to sneak into the back and find Dick. Jason wanted to tell him that he had never seen anything so magical and that he did a wonderful job performing. He wanted to tell Dick goodbye, because this was his last night in Gotham.

But he did not.

He could not.

Jason did not want to say goodbye to his crush because he did not know when he would see Dick again. He did not want to end the conversation they had barely started. It was easier to wait. That was his decision, if the circus came back in a year or even if it took longer he would wait.

He'd wait forever if he had too, as long as he would get to see that annoying ass smile again.


End file.
